Site maintenance, Saturday, August 9th

Senior Member

joined:Dec 4, 2003
posts:1161
votes: 0

There will be site maintenance this Saturday, August 9th, from 10 am - 2 pm PDT. That's a start time of 1pm (Saturday) in New York, 6pm (Saturday) in London, 10.30pm (Saturday) in New Delhi, and 3am (Sunday) in Sydney.

As per usual, you will not be able to access your account during the maintenance, but your ad serving and reporting will not be affected.

Senior Member

Preferred Member

joined:Mar 12, 2004
posts:507
votes: 22

I'll move on thanks Hobbs.

Didn't get back quickly to this as I thought I might have been off-topic (which is naughty here so far as I understand), but with your encouragement, and my idea that I can aim my question specifically about the update, sorry, maintenance on 9th August, I'll pitch in again.

Thanks for the reply Adsense Advisor. I've thought about all the times I pulled a site off-line for an hour or two, and every time it's because I've been modifying a database (or even moving it somewhere else). It's when I want a data set to work with without anyone adding to it while I'm working. I'm guessing that's what your engineers plan to do doing during the maintenance on 9th August in order to keep things working as they should. Which is fair enough.

To be completely open - I've no idea how an architecture quite as big as the google one can possibly work (I've even read all the way through the large scale hypertextual search engine paper. All I ended up with was the idea that it was clever guys wot wrote the thing). With adsense there will be algorithms around the place and databases everywhere else storing info, but while the maintenance appear to alter the algorithms I can't see why a database would need to be off-line while messing with an algorithm.

If any webmasterworld members can bring me closer to the detail of what could possibly be involved in the technology of these August 9th 2008 maintenances I'd be much appreciative. I know a lot of you deal in bigger things than I do myself and will have more of a clue than me.

Senior Member

joined:Mar 19, 2004
posts:3056
votes: 5

Here's how I think it works:

During maintenance, raw data is redirected from processing into storage mode, this includes all the traffic and clicks logs plus every thing else Google collects, think of it as a huge bucket filling up.

Post maintenance: First a raw data sample is processed and analyzed for consistency, click fraud, earnings .., if all is well the data processing tap is opened and reports start to trickling in till the bucket is empty.

As for why you have no access to reports during maintenance, there could be two reasons:

a) There is nothing new there till the final processing green go is given. b) If there are problems and the data is recalled for reprocessing during the maintenance (non green go) your seeing the reports would confuse you and perhaps even cause panic and more support tickets.

Preferred Member

That does make sense. I certainly don't like to panic, though I think for me maybe sometimes they turn the control panel on just a little early after the maintenance and maybe miss some of the data.

You suggest the update is in the processing (algorithm stuff) so they store the data elsewhere so they can take the processing side of things off line for a software update? Wouldn't a slow propogation of a software update through the various datacentres (one at a time) just mean that some of the datacentres have the new and improved way of doing things delayed by half an hour? Program has been running for years so that would that delay be significant? Or do you reckon things would be broken if old data was fed to new datacentres? This really is a serious question based on me not knowing anything rather than some kind of crazy internet sarcasm.

Sticking with my database theory - Given the database has to be shared with the Adwords people I'd wager they might be adding columns on the 8th August maintenance event this weekend: [webmasterworld.com...]

Senior Member

joined:Mar 19, 2004
posts:3056
votes: 5

All that I write is speculation + some crazy sarcasm by default.

Wouldn't a slow propogation of a software update through the various datacentres (one at a time) just mean that some of the datacentres have the new and improved way of doing things delayed by half an hour

What I'm suggesting is that all the raw data processing is put on hold till the new code has been both fully propagated and tested first, only then the earnings flood gates are opened for raw data to be processed by all data centers running the new code gradually over many hours (or perhaps even days depending on how much raw data has accumilated) till we are close to normal live + preset delay status again.

Senior Member

joined:May 9, 2007
posts:1362
votes: 0

During maintenance, raw data is redirected from processing into storage mode, this includes all the traffic and clicks logs plus every thing else Google collects, think of it as a huge bucket filling up.

Is that blue Prius with the number plate 1HOBBS that parks at The Plex yours?

Preferred Member

joined:Mar 12, 2004
posts:507
votes: 22

That makes perfect sense to me now. If the code is being updated it would make sense not to try to process data at the same time, so there would be nothing to see apart from updation delays and any glitches that would presumably be ironed out by all the testing or the following weeks maintenance. So nothing to do with moving the database after all.

It's all very clever stuff. Delays in processing stored data would explain why the maintenance days often seem to be low earners, but a couple of days later there might be an above average day.

Senior Member

joined:Mar 19, 2004
posts:3056
votes: 5

The overflow to other days is mentioned here a lot even on non maintenance days, glad if it's a comfort on slow days that follow, but for most maintenances, I've seen the day eventually catch up to expected highs or lows.

If you remember only a couple years back, Google used to allow us access to reports only after all metrics have been fully processed, nowadays it's a slow trickle, perhaps a sign of overbooked resources serving an astronomical number or publishers, also a sign that Google will be more picky about the sites it allows to serve ads (see many recent banned threads and invalid clicks AdSense blog post).

Junior Member

joined:May 16, 2007
posts:104
votes: 0

yep, no catch up - I have stats appropriate for 10 am, when its 5 pm. All traffic for the the time of the maintenance is just gone. As is normal, google just steals all the clicks and traffic for the time when every thing is down for maintenance.

Preferred Member

Junior Member from US

joined:May 18, 2005
posts: 170
votes: 1

Only the past two weeks have I seen this delay, but stats have always returned to normal by the day after all previous maintenance periods. As a former programmer, I can understand that it is in the realm of possibility that there would be issues with these complex interrelated systems. What I find remarkable is the reporting speed and database response time considering the demands. I am more amazed by the consistencies in the data than reports of any unusual inconsistencies. But those who know the future are so wealthy they need not be checking their stats...

I would say to all: Relax or diversify -- or both.

I don't see how ad hominem attacks on the moderator -- who is preventing discourse from turning into flaming and statements lacking evidence -- serves any purpose.